Fairytale Island and the Frog King
by MesT
Summary: Based on the book, the Dawn Treader makes a stop at a small and magical island. Caspian falls under a spell, Lucy saves him. Slight but sweet Lucy/Caspian, or Lucpian!


**A/N: **This is a short story, a deleted scene if you will, from the book _The Voyage of the "Dawn Treader." _This is my second of its kind… I love that book SO MUCH that I will probably write more! I did my best to write this in C.S. Lewis' style, but we'll see how it goes. Here are some very minor plot spoilers for those who haven't read the book:

**Minor Spoilers: **In this book Caspian, Edmund, Lucy, and a crew sail around on a ship, stopping at different islands.

**Summary: **The Dawn Treader makes a stop at a small and magical island. Slight but sweet Lucy/Caspian, or Lucpian!

**Fairytale Island and the Frog King**

After days of smooth and pleasant sailing, Drinian alerted the others that he had spotted land. "It doesn't look worth stopping at though, in my opinion, your Majesty," he said. When the Dawn Treader came closer to the land, it became very apparent that it was no more than a tiny speck in the sea, if anything. To be more precise, it was three tiny islands grouped together. It would probably take no more than ten minutes to walk from one end of one island to the other.

Still, the water supply was running rather low, and Caspian felt that it would be beneficial to at least stop and try to find a spring to refill some barrels.

Presently the Dawn Treader anchored, and Caspian along with Edmund and Reepicheep rowed a single boat out to shore. They saw that each island had a hill. They decided to climb the one on their island for a better view after they finished searching for water.

The air was clear, the sun was warm, and all three of them felt more cheery than usual. Strangely enough, it felt a lot like remembering some of your fondest childhood memories. Reepicheep's eyes glittered more than usual, and Caspian was smiling. Edmund almost began to skip about but checked himself just before doing anything particularly embarrassing.

They soon came upon a small but clear spring and took a few moments to fill the two barrels they had brought. After finishing they took their boots off and sat at the spring's edge for a moment, happily cooling their feet in the water. Edmund, feeling a little giddy on this new island, took the opportunity to splash Caspian, soaking him a little more than expected. The Pevensie boy burst out laughing. Caspian looked a little indignant, being a King and all, but soon started to laugh himself, for the magic of the island made him less of a grown-up and more of a boy.

"I say, your Majesties, we best get a move on if we want to climb our hill," interrupted Reepicheep, though he admitted to himself that the water fight was most enjoyable to watch.

"Right you are," said Caspian, and all three gathered their things and began walking. They left the barrels near the spring to come back for a little while later.

The climb up the hill was very steep but short enough. Everyone felt curiously more cheerful as they climbed higher and higher. In fact, by the time they got to the top, the two humans had become so not like grown-ups that they began to chase each other about playing Tig, or some Narnian version of the game.

"Now now," said Reepicheep, though the other two weren't particularly listening. He very badly wanted to join in but, being a mouse, human magic worked slower on him. "This is no time for games – hullo!" he said, just as he noticed something standing at the very center of the hilltop. The others paused long enough to notice it too, and all came in for a closer look.

If Lucy were there, she would have immediately thought the object to be a tall wand, planted in the grass. At the top of it was something very bright, like a small star. It looked so cheery and warm and wonderful that anyone would want to touch it right away.

In fact, that's precisely what Caspian did. Now, you must not think badly of him, for he would not have become the great man that he did without making certain mistakes in his earlier years.

The minute he touched the magical wand, it seemed to Edmund and Reepicheep that he vanished. The sudden change of events had broken the almost trance-like state that the other two were in, and their faces turned white with confusion. There, on the ground where Caspian had stood only a moment ago, was a frog!

"Hold on," started Reepicheep, thoughtfully stroking his whiskers. "Hold on, just one minute, now…"

"Ca – Ca – Caspian??" exclaimed Edmund, stooping down to take a closer look at the frog. It was of course the most alarmed-looking frog one ever saw, its little hands clasped over its mouth in shock. "Oh you've done it now," said Edmund, helpfully.

"Sire! What will we tell the oth – Sire!" yelled Reepicheep after Caspian, who, his frog instincts taking over a little, had begun to hop away in search of the things that frogs like. Edmund quickly chased after him and scooped him up in his arms.

"What do we do now??" Edmund asked the frog.

"Ribbit," Caspian replied a little crossly, for what he now wanted most was a wet little pond and a fly or two.

Even though the spell was mostly broken, Edmund still felt a little less like a grown-up than before, and his lip trembled at this unfortunate sight of his most favorite person in the world.

"Never fear, my King," said Reepicheep, laying a comforting paw on Edmund. "Things always work out in the end. Come, let us bring him back to the ship, but let us take care not to reveal His Majesty's state just yet. We don't want to cause a panic."

And so Edmund stuffed Caspian into his pocket, and he and the mouse climbed back down and collected the barrels from the spring. (During this time Edmund had wiped his eyes and blown his nose with a handkerchief, which he then stuffed into the same pocket that contained the King. Caspian would later lecture Edmund about this terrible lapse in judgment for many days to come.)

As I hinted before, it really was a shame that Lucy had not been with them on the island. She had read many more books than Edmund and, like you or I, would have right away known the best cure for a King who has turned into a frog. But since she wasn't there, Edmund and Reepicheep sulkily returned to the ship and upon questioning had to pretend as best they could that Caspian had already boarded while no one was looking.

Edmund and Reepicheep deposited Caspian into a small box in one of the cabins to keep him contained while they went off to pace about the whole ship, trying to think of a solution.

Meanwhile, Lucy passed by the door of that same cabin and heard a very faint "ribbit" coming from somewhere inside. Always curious about things, she began to search until she found a box, which seemed to be the source of the sound. She opened it to reveal a most miserable-looking frog. Lucy loved almost all animals and certainly wasn't scared by this one.

"You poor, poor creature!" she said, gently lifting it out of the box and placing it on a table top. She didn't know if frogs could actually cry, but she thought that this particular frog was on the verge of it, for its eyes were the saddest things she had seen in a while. She decided it must have had a tough day and sincerely felt for it. She cupped its little face in her hands and kissed the top of its nose.

Before she knew it the frog was gone, and her small hands were in fact resting on either side of Caspian's face.

"Oh my," she breathed, wide-eyed. "That's - not - normal!"

Caspian took her hands in his larger ones and spun her around the room, grinning. "My deepest thanks, my dear Queen Lucy!" he said, lifting her off the ground in a hug.

Edmund and Reepicheep were almost at their wits end when they suddenly saw Caspian exiting out of the cabin, as healthy and _human_-like as ever. Their jaws nearly hit the floor.

"How – what – where –" stuttered Edmund in disbelief. Reepicheep actually collapsed to the ground with relief.

"All thanks to Lucy," said Caspian, gesturing to the girl who was blushing very severely and was trying to escape before anyone noticed her. "She has always been the bright one of the bunch."

That evening during dinner, Caspian suggested naming the island "Frog Island." But Lucy knew better and, still not quite brave enough to meet Caspian's eyes, suggested it be called "Fairytale Island."

In all the commotion of the day's events, none of them had noticed that the other two islands had similar hills, and on top of those hills stood similar wands. If I hear about any adventures on those other two islands, I will surely give an account of them. But for now it was in the company's best interest to continue their journey, and Lucy never quite forgot how she had kissed the most handsome Frog King that ever lived.


End file.
